Fixed
by Syeira-la
Summary: A wolf who cannot disguise herself as a human finds the pack in yet another Earth cycle. Before they can advance, though, they must find a lunar flower who may not exist and free her from limbo Kiba is convinced she's trapped in. Skyler may be the key.
1. Chapter 1

**AHA! I'm back. For an explanation of my absence, see below. If you couldn't care less, skip to the next paragraph concerning this story. :P So. Recently, (and by that, I mean for a whole year) I have lost my spark for writing. First I lost my love of Warriors, the staple of my fanfictioning, and so had nothing to write about. I was still intrigued by writing about humans, though, so I devised a premise for a non-fanfiction story. I liked the idea, but then I got stuck. What would the plot be? I mulled over it…then mulled over it more…and more…and soon a year passed with practically no advances in plot. I didn't want to just start writing, though, for fear of ruining a good idea by not structuring it enough. So I didn't write at all. I really want to write again, though, so I came up with a premise for a fanfiction of my greatest love, Wolf's Rain. I have a basic idea for a plot, so don't worry that this will be a crazily unstructured thing, but this is a way for me to write something without worrying about destroying some awesome premise. (Not that this premise isn't awesome. :P ) So it seems that I am returning to the fanfiction world!**

**This story is set in the earth cycle following the one the anime focuses on. You'll notice that familiar old characters like Blue and Darcia will not be present here as they weren't reincarnated in the anime, and that the plot won't be like Wolf's Rain. For those of you that somehow missed the summary, this story follows Skyler, a wolf who doesn't have the ability to disguise herself to the humans by shifting into one, and the regular old pack as they search for the key to Paradise with nothing but the aid of a faint memory of Kiba's. Now, there will be a few discrepancies between this fanfiction and the anime. I am aware that, in the anime, the wolves don't literally shift to a new form, they just cast a spell over the humans to make them think that they look like humans. For this fanfiction to work, though, the wolves actually do shift. Alright…now you may read! Go!**

The damn cold was getting to me. I shuddered freely, shaking out my coat for effect. Maybe I shouldn't call so much attention to myself, but who really peers out of the hazy warmth of a coffee shop to scan the sidewalk for wolves? Exactly. Point to myself.

I considered daring to press my nose up against the pane of glass to suck in some of the warmth that was coloring the window yellow. But that would get me caught immediately. And I doubted that I could escape from the grabby "paws" of the troops. Whose troops were they now, anyway? I couldn't bother to keep up with the changing politics of the time.

As it was, I settled for curling up beside the dingy brick foundation of the place, right beneath one window. The bricks weren't cold, but they weren't exactly warm, either. It was good enough. I could almost trick myself into thinking that I was inside and curled in a booth instead of on the concrete. I would have imagined that, actually, if I wasn't one to be bent on realism instead of that fabled imagination.

But I'm not a cynic through and through. Someone like that has no hope; no flame. I have plenty of that. Hope especially; I wish for things all the time. I'm quite selfish, really. I have a tendency to come at things with the, "why me? I didn't do anything to deserve this," perspective. It's quite endearing.

Damn, now I was shivering. And swearing more than usual. Not that I could speak that way to humans; I'm all wound up in my mind, nowhere else. There's no way for me to express myself, unless you count scratching at the door and whining. Or talking to another wolf, and I haven't seen another wolf in at least a year. This sort of confinement leads me to drabble frequently, as is obvious if you're following this freight train of thought.

If only I could slip inside and share the warmth with the humans. Maybe a back entrance? A hidden corner? But no, now I was becoming desperate. I crushed the thoughts fiercely, reflecting uncomfortably on all of the times that desperate, hopeful measures had lead to some tough situations. No, the only way I would get in was if I could do what the other wolves did and brandish humanity like my own private star. If I could shed my fur and step into skin I could do anything; but for now I was the last member of a dead breed. And I'm not just speaking of being a wolf. Plenty of wolves roam underneath these gray skies, but they're not like me.

I would snort if it wouldn't attract attention from passerby. "Not like me?" That was a pitiful line, yet another example of how my subconscious betrayed me regularly. _You will not lapse into cries of angst, _I commanded inwardly. I should be carrying my rank with pride: I was the last real wolf alive. "Real" was a loose term, sure; the wolves that could shed their fur were real enough. But none of them were as wolves had been in the beginning, without human forms to turn to for an easy way out. None of them were stuck forever in a body with paws. I had to carry the legacy of the wolves alone. And it's not an easy burden. Frankly, I'd like to be able to don skin and blend in without the fear of being gunned down. But no, it seems that fate likes the path less traveled for myself.

I scrambled to my paws as the door to the coffee shop slammed open, letting light pool briefly on the cracked concrete. It was a mistake, and I knew it as soon as my violent, sudden motion caused my paws to skid across a patch of especially slick ice and send me sprawling. As if the commotion from my spring wasn't enough, I was skidding across the humans' path. Their laughter halted abruptly as they took notice of my desperately moving form and I tried to bound away.

"It's a wolf!" One frail-looking woman shrieked, throwing her hands into the air as if I had a gun held up to her forehead. The man of the party of three jerked back in surprise, indecision clear on his features. He was obviously fearful of me, which made me want to smirk, but he knew that he had a responsibility to terminate the "filthy creature."

"Wolf!" He called supportively, obviously hoping that someone else would come to his rescue and be the man of the night. There was a commotion in the café, but no one came bursting through the door. He looked at me grimly and, swallowing, lunged at me.

My paws scrabbled for purchase as I fled, not looking back. I wasn't afraid of the unarmed man, but chances were that his buddies inside had already called for the troops. And I couldn't fight them off.

"Maybe it's a dog…?" I heard someone suggest uncertainly as I disappeared into the street. Traffic was sluggish at this late hour, as if no one wanted to be caught out in the slush and ice when it was this dark. Luckily, I wasn't driving, so I could dash through the domed city without fear of a collision.

Streetlights painted the puddles a dingy, faint yellow. The color disappeared as it splashed up my forelegs, but I couldn't help but think that the littered water that was drenching me made the darkened, abandoned roads look eerily lit. Even without the moon, with the help of the reflective pools of water the dirty bulbs that flanked the streets did a good job of keeping my path bright.

Not bright enough to warn me of the knife spiraling towards my spine, though. It caught me behind my shoulders with the kind of aim that would have killed me if the arm throwing the weapon hadn't been so weak. I snarled, sounding as feral as the beast that humans thought I was. Not even my determination could keep me standing, though; I crashed to the asphalt, shoulder-first. Pain exploded in my back and shoulder, making my head spin. My thoughts were incoherent for a moment, as panicked as I was. No one was out here! How the hell was this happening? I couldn't even shift my body to see my assailant.

Someone laughed, and I hear two very human palms slap together. Either someone had clapped once, or two people were involved here and they were high-fiving. But the laugh wasn't what I would expect: instead of being cruel and sadistic, it was reedy and gleeful.

"What if we just killed someone's pet?" Sounded a very dubious voice.

"Shut up, Alina," a rougher, male voice snarled back. No matter the anger in his voice, though, I could still tell that it was a kid, as was the "Alina" person.

"Yeah, Alina," said another kid, though he sounded considerably gentler and reassuring. For some reason I thought of an older brother. "We just killed a _wolf_! Imagine the fame, the fortune!" He sounded excited. "Maybe this is the last one left – it's possible, since no one's seen one in forever. If it is, then we'll go down in history!"

"Just grab it so we can wheel it home." I heard the squeak of old wheels, as if the disgusted speaker was pulling some kind of wagon.

That was when, if I had the ability to adopt a human form, I would stand and say something witty, or just something powerful like, "I'm not dead." But I couldn't do that, so I writhed violently instead. The motion achieved my goal, and the dagger dislodged itself and clattered to the ground.

"I-it just _moved!"_ Someone shrieked, and I assumed that it was Alina. _Yeah, _I thought wryly, _living things do that. _

I suppressed a painful whine and staggered upwards. Blood was making my fur sticky, but as I shrugged my shoulders I found that the wound wasn't too deep. Not enough to stop me. I lunged at them desperately, nearly tripping over my own paws. _Run! I'm scaring you off! _I'm not sentimental, but I didn't want to kill children. Well, maybe I wouldn't mind ripping the throat out of the snarling boy. But that was beside the point.

It occurred to me that it was pitiful to be struck down by a group of three children and then try to scare them off instead of avenging myself with teeth. But at that moment I wasn't as concerned with pride as getting away and licking my wounds, so to speak. Possibly literally.

"Someone stick it again!" The snarling boy roared. Great, they had more weapons? "Rory! _Get it!_"

The night cast shadows over the childrens' expressions, but with my eyes I could still make them out clearly. Rory must be the medium sized one with fair, curly hair, and "Snarling Boy" must be the string-bean looking kid with lank, dark hair. Rory gripped a knife in his right hand, and he was biting his lip as he approached.

He was getting too close. I snarled and launched myself at him in an explosion of mottled gray fur, jaws snapping. His hand was easy prey for my furious attack, and with almost no mercy I snapped most of the bones in it and split the flesh as if it were ripe fruit. His scream made Alina dash away, yelping. Snarling Boy drew back, cursing. "Rory, get your fricking hand out of its mouth!" His yell was more of a scream, wavering and high pitched.

I felt a sudden deadweight and Rory's hand was yanked from my mouth as the boy fainted on the spot. I backed away from him, resisting the urge to spit his blood out of my mouth. But that would be un-wolf-like. I let another snarl rip from deep within my chest as I stared Snarling Boy down.

"I'll kill you," he said, but his voice wasn't confident at all and there was no avenging note in it. It seemed that he wasn't interested in defending Rory or even stopping to see if he was ok. After a final, nervous glance, he disappeared into the night after Alina. Maybe he wasn't so bent on killing me, after all.

"Really? You could have killed anything for me, but you got that? That's completely inedible," a male voice groaned from somewhere behind me.

I whirled and spoke the first thing that came to mind. "He's not dead." What a pointless statement. For all I knew, it could have been a human talking to someone near me and not addressing me. But no one else was around, and who else would talk to me but a wolf? If it was a human, then they would just hear growls and barks. Other wolves could talk to humans even when they were in their own fur, but that was a result of their ability to change shape.

"Oh? It doesn't matter, I guess, since it's a human. I wouldn't eat it even if it were dead."

He definitely wasn't a human if he was talking like that. No human would sound that cocky and amused when faced with the mangled hand of an unconscious boy. Or threaten to eat the boy in question.

I watched as the speaker waltzed from the shadows, one corner of his lips upturned in a relaxed grin. He was a wolf, as I had determined, and pudgy one at that. The thought amused me briefly as I looked at him with my head cocked to one side.

"Any reason your head's turned like that?" The other wolf said, his grin broadening. He had the sort of eyes that looked like they were always charged with laughter, I noticed.

"Just curiosity," I responded. "You're pretty strange."

"And you can tell that from a few sentences?"

"I'm pretty intuitive." It felt strange to be holding a conversation with someone after so long. I was in a rush to get all of the words out; I just wanted to talk until I had exhausted myself. I'm not normally talkative, but all of those stale thoughts caged up in my head had found a key in the newcomer.

"I'm Hige," he said without preamble. I got the feeling that he had decided I was amusing enough to know his name.

"Skyler," I said, wondering why we were exchanging names this quickly. Normally, as far as encounters with other wolves went, it was a quick, polite nod and then the two wolves moved on. Wolves weren't sociable creatures outside of their own packs.

"Sky, then," Hige said, shortening my name with a grin that, if it got any wider, would split his face. I accepted his jab with a roll of my eyes – not that it's easy to replicate such a human tendency with these wolf eyes. I have a tendency to copy human mannerisms; I suppose that results from my desire to be able to do what the other wolves can. I don't want to _be_ a human, but it would sure simplify things. I don't think I'm necessarily jealous, but I do envy what the humans can do. And I'm not fiercely prideful about my origins as some others are.

Hige straightened and slipped into a human form that closely resembled his "true form" – same color of wild hair, laughing eyes, and a thick build to match. The heavy hoodie wasn't helping any slimming efforts he might have been undertaking. He strode over to the limp body of the child and poked it once before calling out, "Yup, guys, this is definitely not a food source."

"I could have told you that, Porky," a thoroughly disgusted voice answered. I imagined a shake of the head to go along with the words before I realized that this meant that there was someone else I couldn't see hiding around here.

My fur bristled and I swung my head around in an attempt to locate the newest intruder. I scented deeply, but all the smell in this place was overcome by the earthy, powerful scent of Hige.

Hige turned. "He's actually over there," he said with a smirk and raised a finger in the opposite direction of where I was staring. I supposed that he was making fun of my possible overreaction, but I didn't have time to berate him about it with a new wolf joining in the fun. I could clearly see a flash in the darkness as the whites of the wolf's eyes were exposed when he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for the introduction," he said acidly, walking over to Hige and ignoring me. He was already in his human form, all leather and gray.

"Right," Hige said amiably. "Are Kiba and Toboe coming?"

"I don't see why. You found us nothing but a mangled human boy. Nothing they can eat."

"And her," Hige suggested, swiveling his outstretched finger so that it pointed at me. The leathery wolf didn't seem surprised to see me, though judging by how he had ignored me earlier it seemed like the first time he had noticed me.

"Are you suggesting that I am edible?" I asked, frowning. I had been too confused by the names to properly follow the conversation, but I heard Hige's line clearly.

"You never know until you try it," Hige said with a mischievous lilt to his voice.

"Stop screwing around," The newer wolf said sharply, but Hige didn't drop his happy-go-lucky ways. "We'll never find anything if you keep getting distracted."

His careless write off of me reminded me quickly of how not-involved I was in this. I had been getting comfortable, throwing out banter and observing. But now it seemed like they would be on the move again and I would trot back to my domed domain and tend to my wounds. Alone again. Not to sound desperately lonely, of course.

Hige groaned theatrically, as if dramatically hindered by this course of events. "I don't even get to see what she looks like? It's not often that we get babes around here."

Ah. Way to make me feel incompetent. I looked like this and only this. If he was interested in human-ish girls, then he would have to move on.

Leather wolf was in the process of making a tsking noise and looking disdainfully at Hige when a new voice burst onto the scene, as high and kiddish as the ones from my earlier assailants.

"A new wolf! Wow! She's just like us!" I could practically hear the exclamation marks bouncing from the scrawny wolf that leapt into the scene from behind Hige and his friend. I almost wanted to correct him: not _exactly _like them.

"You've been quiet," Hige noted, elbowing the kid to shut him up. The kid gave him a reproachful look as he did so. "Got nothing to say, Sky?"

"Her name is Sky?" The little wolf interjected eagerly.

"Skyler," I corrected hurriedly. Not that it mattered – these wolves would never see me again – but if they were going to talk to me, they could at least get my name right. I could only describe the look the runt gave me as adoration, but I got the feeling that he looked at everyone like that.

Hige looked amused. "It's Sky," he reassured him. The kid looked confused.

"Are we done here?" Leather Wolf cut in. "We have to get a move on, and this wolf isn't helping us any." He gave me a look of unbridled contempt, which made me feel indignant. "And where is Kiba?"

"Here," a serious voice said in response to his question, and a dark headed wolf stepped behind the group. "I was just waiting for you to finish your talk."

I was going to tug my fur out if one more wolf stepped into the picture. I wasn't equipped to deal with this overload of company. Hige I could deal with, but not all of his pack.

"We're done," Leather Wolf said scornfully and turned his back on the crew.

Kiba raised one eyebrow. "Alright." He turned after Leather Wolf and walked past him, striding purposefully forward. Leather Wolf reluctantly trailed after him, and the kid wolf waved once, shyly, before springing after the two. I watched curiously as they melted down to four paws and broke into a run.

Hige turned back to me. "Wanna come?"

I shook my head at the ridiculous request. He walked over to me, though, and held out a hand. He was obviously intrigued by the idea of anything female trailing after him. Of course, I couldn't just jump up with human feet and take his with a human hand even if I wanted to.

Hige looked mildly disappointed when I didn't accept. "Well, at least show me your face as a parting gift?" He turned up the charm, flashing a mouthful of white at me.

"I can't," I said flatly.

His eyebrows shot up. "Why not?"

"Don't ask me." I shrugged my wolf shoulders, which sent a jolt of pain down my spine. I had almost forgotten about that. Suddenly weary, I asked, "Don't you have a pack to catch up to?"

He looked at me as if he was considering something. "Hey guys, wait," he called. "This one's different."

**There you have it. A bit of a filler – typical "first meeting chapter" between an OC and the pack. Expect more soon. But I must warn you – they won't all be this long. :P Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

The wolves didn't stop at Hige's call, but I did notice that their pace slowed. Great. I was about to become a spectacle, something out of the ordinary for this random pack to gape over. After a moment, Leather Wolf, whose wolf form was almost completely gray, stopped abruptly and swung his head back in my direction. It obviously wasn't interest that made him stop as a sour glare was pasted on his features.

The kid wolf, who was clearly attached to Leather Wolf, skidded to a halt and stood beside his friend. The pack leader didn't stop, and I wondered if he was always like this: too determined and purposeful to pause even for a moment. Not that it mattered to me.

Hige looked like he was waiting for them to dash back over, fascinated. When they didn't, he cocked his head to one side and looked back at me. "Wait here," he said before returning to his wolf appearance and galloping over to his pack.

The hushed voices didn't interest me, so I sat down with a thump and twisted to examine my wound. The stretch made me wince – I couldn't turn like that with my shoulders so beaten up. As I shook my fur out slowly, I wondered why Hige was going to all this effort to interest the wolves with me. Maybe he wanted a female tagging along with them, but if that was his aim he was sure to be disappointed. I'm not a pack kind of wolf, and I had no plans of joining a strange pack. But as I thought about rejecting such an offer, I realized that it was stupid. No wolf pack accepted new members readily, and this group of four seemed pretty bent on remaining exclusive. Hige probably just wanted to…but I couldn't figure out his motives. Oh, whatever. It would be easier to just ignore this predicament and watch idly until it blew past.

"Didn't Kiba say to watch for anything out of the ordinary?" That was Hige's eager voice, louder than before.

"A disabled wolf is hardly connected to the lunar flower," Leather Wolf replied scathingly. Special scorn was placed on the phrase "lunar flower," which made me curious. Why did he hate a legend so much? It was just a kid's fairy tale. I ignored his suggestion that I was impaired. I was, of course, so there was no need to take offence.

"Maybe she is!" Hige argued.

Leather Wolf seemed to have had enough. "Get your head out of your ass," he snarled. "You just want to drag along someone you can seduce."

"I'm genuinely interested in this, though! What if she helps us find Paradise?"

Paradise. Lunar flower. This pack was delusional; did they think they were chasing a dream that really existed?

Apparently, Leather Wolf agreed with me. "Paradise," he snorted. "Here we go again."

Hige didn't sound amused. "I've said this before, but I mean it. If you hate it so much, why are you even following us?"

Leather Wolf shook his head and stalked away, after the white wolf, who had disappeared from view. Kid Wolf, who had been hanging uncertainly around the edges of the conversation, dashed after Leather Wolf, plaintively calling "Tsume!" So Leather Wolf was actually Tsume.

Hige seemed to have forgotten about me, and with a roll of his wolf eyes he broke into a relaxed lope after the two.

That had been interesting, but I was glad that it was over now. I shook my head once before getting back to my paws and limping for shelter. Only when I was curled up under a street lamp did I realize how nice it had felt to talk to someone, even if it was a weird wolf and his comrades. I almost wanted them to come back. I told myself that it was only the talking that I had liked, even if I had only said a few words to them.

***1 Week Later***

"Why are we back here?" A small voice whined, and I thought that I might recognize it from somewhere. But, nah. It was just another kid wandering around the city.

"Because Kiba's desperate," a derisive voice replied, and this voice I recognized immediately. It was Leather Wolf, my old acquaintance. Or, more correctly, Tsume of Hige's wolf pack. Judging by their comments, they didn't live here, but they were still in the area. On their quest for a fairy tale, I assumed. That is, if I even heard them correctly when they were speaking of things like lunar flowers and Paradise.

There was no rebuttal from Kiba, but Hige spoke up. "See, Tsume? I told you she was important."

"She's not important," Tsume sneered. "Kiba's just desperate, as I said. He convinces himself that anything could make the lunar flower appear just around the corner. There's not even anything in his stupid legend that speaks of a wolf who can't shift."

Still nothing from Kiba, but I wasn't fixated on a possible comeback anymore. They were looking for me? Why? Did they think I was a part of the Paradise legend or something? I wasn't. I would know if I was part of something that didn't even exist.

This update made me want to see them; they had a bad habit of being invisible and I couldn't see them anywhere near me now. I started walking again – I seemed to have stopped dead in my tracks when I heard them – and craned my neck about in the hopes of catching sight of them. Part of me said that it was better to distance myself from the pack, that this would lead to nothing but trouble, but I was insatiably curious.

The snow had finally stopped about a week ago, but it looked like it was starting up again as I felt something sizzle out of existence as it hit my warm nose. A dainty, circular snowflake flashed into water vapor as it trailed through the air by my muzzle. I was momentarily distracted – if the snow stuck, then the wolves would leave pawprints and then maybe I could find them! _Way to go. You're a regular detective, _I thought disparagingly, momentary excitement crushed.I had to remind myself that I didn't necessarily want to find them. Besides, I didn't need snow to spy on them. I only had to follow their voices.

The only problem was that they had stopped chatting, leaving me to wander aimlessly around the back streets of the domed city.

"Smell anything, Hige?" The voice was something of a monotone – completely serious, deep, and surprisingly close.

"Plenty! I can smell a hot dog stand a mile away, y'know."

"Any wolves?"

"Besides us?" Hige laughed, but no one was laughing with him. The laughter trailed off, sounding awkward.

How did they sound so close and yet be so invisible? I shook my head, frustrated, and picked up the pace. I trotted around the corner of the alleyway and through a narrow opening to reach a side road that seemed completely empty – no cars, no inhabited buildings. Everything here was crumbling, and I wondered why I had never taken advantage of the emptiness of this place before. Hige's pack had beaten me to it – the wolves were all in their human forms and seated lazily on a thrust of concrete that looked like it had been pushed upward by an earthquake.

"Hey! It's her!" The Kid Wolf's voice was as high pitched as ever as he pointed straight at me. I felt increasingly as four pairs of supposedly human eyes turned to look at me. I looked out of place among the disguised wolves, and just the fact that I was feeling awkward with wolves made me shiver. They were wolves, even if they did have a power that I didn't have. I shouldn't have felt out of place. "That is her, right?" Kid Wolf said, sounding a bit dubious. "Sky?"

Hige grinned. "Of course it's Sky, Toboe." So, Kid Wolf was Toboe. Great, at least when I addressed them I could call them something that wasn't a ridiculous nickname.

Kiba stepped off of the upraised concrete and walked over to me, ignoring some muttered comment Tsume had made. It seemed like Kiba ignored everything everyone said. "You're Skyler?" He asked in the monotonous, quiet voice I had heard before. He had the kind of voice that seemed purposefully quiet, the kind that everyone shut up to hear. And he had used my real name. Maybe this one was smart.

He was so tall compared to me. I looked up at him, and he seemed to get it. He was a wolf the next second, and on my level. "I am," I said, looking past him briefly to see that the other wolves were re-settling on the concrete and watching curiously. Well, all except Tsume, who was turned away deliberately.

"And you can't shift?"

His questions were simple enough, so I felt that I could answer. This whole mess made me wary, but as I didn't know what was going on I couldn't really just turn away. "Nope."

Kiba nodded and paused as if he was considering something. "Have you ever heard of Paradise?"

Straight to the point. "It's just a fairy tale." I shrugged. I watched him closely, expecting him to be disappointed. But no emotion registered on his face, and I couldn't even see a visible reaction in his eyes.

"We're going there," he said without preamble, and I wondered at how direct he was. "You may come along, if you wish." He didn't even wait for my reaction; just turned and padded back to his pack.

Wait. I was under the impression that he needed me! Didn't Hige say that Kiba was looking for anything out of the ordinary? That I might be a part of a legend? If I was, then why were they all walking away without a backwards glance? It occurred to me then that what I was feeling was incredibly stupid. Hige had a hunch that I might possibly be able to help them. That meant next to nothing. Why should such an exclusive pack beg me to stay with them? It wasn't as if I was superior to them in any way. I was disabled, really, and I would only hinder them because it would be much harder to hide with a wolf who couldn't change herself.

But this Kiba seemed bent on getting to Paradise, no matter what stood in his path. I might not be superior to them, but shouldn't he be at least interested in the reaction of someone who could possibly maybe help him reach his goal? It seemed like he was giving up when he walked away. Or maybe I just had no idea who I was dealing with. I was thinking as if I was completely informed of this pack's motives, but I honestly was clueless. The realization shocked me back to logical clarity, but I was still stuck on what to do. When Kiba had walked off, he had extended an invitation but then acted careless about it. It wasn't as if he was holding a hand out, as Hige had. If I followed them now it would seem that I was desperate. There was no way I could do that. Besides, no one but Hige really wanted me with them (for superficial reasons at that), and Tsume was downright hateful. And I had myself convinced that I didn't want to go, anyway.

It was time to speak up, to test Kiba and see if he really was interested in my company. "If I were to follow your pack," I began, realizing that Kiba was the true leader of this pack, "I would hinder you quite a bit. I'm hard to hide. I don't believe in Paradise, and I'm convinced that I have nothing to do with this Paradise of yours. Keeping me along is a dangerous gamble."

Hige exploded with something like, "That's the longest thing she's ever spoken!" And I wanted to clap a hand over his mouth. Too bad I didn't have hands.

Kiba seemed unperturbed by his outburst. "I know," he said simply. It was pretty self explanatory, but I saw then that he was willing to go any distance and face any danger for the sake of his dream.

And though I still hadn't made up my mind about whether or not to go, I found myself stepping forward. Hige bounded over to me and bowed dramatically, extending a hand again with a flourish. "Even if you don't have hands, m'lady," he said teasingly before taking on his wolf body and standing beside me. I could still see a ridiculously human grin lifting his lips and laughter sparkling in his eyes. The pack started to run forward as wolves and Hige flicked me with his tail in something like encouragement. Somewhat involuntarily I ran after them, trying not to think about what was sure to be disgusted horror on Tsume's face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go again! Chapter three! Woohoo!**

"Care to explain any of this to me?" I finally spoke up after running silently next to Hige for over an hour. The pack, which I couldn't quite bring myself to think of as including me, had left the domed city far behind and were now galloping over the hard packed earth of a looming forest. Frost had worked its way into the dirt's bones, it seemed, as every step brought a shock of frigid cold to my paw pads.

"Explain what? It's pretty self explanatory. We run around for a bit and then find Paradise. Simple."

"But how am I supposed to help you find it? It seems to me that I'm running at the back of the pack, not the front." I realized how that sounded. "Not that I want to be up there, I mean. I have no idea where we're going, and I don't even believe in our destination."

"It's not really about finding Paradise right now," Hige said.

"Then what are you looking for?" I asked, confused.

"A lunar flower. She's the one who is supposed to lead us there."

"She? How can a flower be a she?"

Hige shrugged. "I dunno. I don't even know if a lunar flower can be a person. But Kiba is convinced that he remembers a lunar flower girl that can show us the way." He shrugged again. "Kiba's been right about everything so far, so I guess he must be right. But I've never heard of something like her. She's lost somewhere, Kiba says, and we can't find Paradise without her. Kiba's instincts must not be enough."

"Remembers her? Like, from a dream?" A lunar flower _girl? _This Paradise myth was getting stranger and stranger.

"I guess so," Hige assumed.

"And how am I supposed to help with this?" I asked. I knew of no flower girl.

"You probably can't," Hige said amiably, a smile creeping into his voice. "I just thought it was a good excuse to have you tag along." He winked.

I groaned. "Being sexist again, are we, Hige?"

"All the time," the other wolf laughed.

"Well, then," I countered, "You'll have to be good enough company that I don't regret the decision to be dragged after you guys."

"Trust me; that I can accomplish." He flashed me a cocky wolf grin – how he replicated human expressions so well was beyond me – and fell back into a silent run, leaving me to mull over what he had said and my place in all of this.

I had decided to come along without really thinking about it – I had been caught up in the notion of going somewhere and accomplishing something. It wasn't the lure of Paradise, a place I was sure didn't exist, but maybe I was a bit lonely. Even if I felt awkward in a pack full of wolves that could be human in appearance any time they liked, at least I wasn't rejected here as humans rejected wolves. Even if Tsume did hate me, it wasn't the same. I halfway belonged here.

But still, this mission sounded completely insane, to put it bluntly. Kiba seemed more and more bent on fairy tales every day; forget what I had said about his possible intelligence. Now we were chasing a flower that might just exist and maybe might just be a girl, too? This goal was even more far-fetched than Paradise itself. If some such girl existed, why didn't she come and find us? And where was Kiba getting all of this information, anyway? If he was leading us from some dream, then I was wary of his leadership skills. No one else seemed to doubt him, though; well, except Tsume. But Tsume was the exception to everything.

As I pounded along behind the pack, I wondered how much of their day was spent dashing aimlessly towards some distant fixture of the land. Did we even have a concrete goal? Not used to all of this strain, I was beginning to tire. Not to tire like a human might – wolves are built for stamina – but to feel a weary ache in my bones that was creeping in and settling down to haunt me. And the silence they kept up was unnerving. They weren't a chatty bunch, but couldn't they at least say a word to each other every now and then? Buy maybe it was just me, who never got to talk to anyone, that wanted to talk.

Hige had stopped talking, but I decided to start up our conversation again and maybe get some answers. "Hige, where are we going?" I asked bluntly. "And please don't say something about Kiba's instincts. Are we going somewhere in particular?"

Hige looked over at me, an amused expression stretching across his face. "Yeah, we're going somewhere." As he left it at that, I felt inclined to push on.

"Do you know where?"

Hige shrugged. "Not really." His words made me want to throw human hands up in exasperation. Didn't I just say not to say something so abstract? "We're following the scent of the lunar flowers."  
The statement made me want to stop up short. More legendary references? We were never going to get anywhere. But Hige wasn't done talking. "Every so often we'll catch the scent and follow it to wherever it leads. Kiba says that, since the flower maiden is a lunar flower, we'll find her wherever the flowers are. Can't you smell it?"

I inhaled after he said so, but even before I did I knew I wouldn't smell anything. I hadn't noticed any scents like that before. "Uh, no."

Hige looked at me curiously. "Must be a bad nose." I supposed that it was a valid reason – not that I had anything to compare my nose to, but it didn't seem very reliable. "Well, the scent's pretty faint right now, anyway. Even I'm having trouble getting it." He flashed me a self-confident grin and I rolled my eyes. So typical of him.

The minutes rolled into hours as I ran mindlessly behind the pack, and my thoughts dulled into a soft, tired commotion that I paid no attention to. I was so lost in the rhythmic thud of my own paws that I almost didn't catch Tsume's mutter.

"I know this place," he said, voice quiet as if he hadn't meant to say the words aloud.

I looked up as he spoke, and the growing speck of a city we had been running towards was looming in front of the pack, consuming our vision with its magnitude. It was much different from my own domed city; not that that surprised me. Domed cities had been something of a last shot of protection against our deteriorating, unpredictable atmosphere, but when they didn't work many of them had been torn down and replaced by other strange attempts at defensive cities. The new cities being built were always odd contraptions, misshapen and unusual. The humans tried everything to save themselves from the world around them – giant veils, domed cities, even underwater tank cities. None of it worked, but it didn't stop them. Humans are desperate creatures.

This city, however, was surprisingly normal, if not plain. It was obviously an old structure – it was very black and made almost completely of gothic spires that rose above flatter, mundane squares. The spires may have served some function, but I didn't see any humans stationed anywhere on them. In fact, I didn't see anyone at all. I glanced at Tsume, but he wasn't doing any explaining of his earlier statement, just staring up at the city.

Straight to the point, Kiba asked, "You know this place?" His eyes held veiled interest.

Tsume looked at him, a faintly sour look on his face. "Yes," he answered shortly, but there was a slight reluctance in his voice. Without waiting for some comment from Kiba, he pressed on, "You want to go in, don't you?"

"The scent of the flowers is strongest there." It was no yes or no answer, but it was clear from the steady determination on Kiba's face that he planned on leading us in there.

Tsume shook his head. "Follow me." I was beginning to realize that he looked permanently disgusted. Kiba let him pass and Tsume lead the pack forward and into the city through two exceptionally spindly towers. No city inhabitant stirred as we entered, and I was becoming increasingly suspicious of the place. But even without people, I had to be a forward thinker. What about when we did meet the people here? The rest of the pack would be able to act as a human, but I would stick out.

The pack had settled into a tighter group, which made me feel uncomfortably unsure of myself (what if they didn't want to walk this close to me? They hardly knew me!). But it gave me an excellent opportunity to talk to Kiba without having to run after him and flag him down. I felt another twinge of discomfort as I turned to him; I had never really talked to him before, so I didn't know what he thought of me. What if he saw me as an unacceptable tick riding on his pack? But I pushed those thoughts down; I wasn't usually so unconfident, and I didn't need to hesitate now.

"Kiba?" I started. He turned to look at me as we walked, but didn't say anything. "What about hiding me from the humans? If you want to keep a low profile, having me hang out with you won't be a good thing."

Kiba looked like he was about to reply when Tsume cut in. "It doesn't matter," he said, obviously scornful of my concern. "It's probably best that we all remain as wolves."

What did that mean? Were there no humans here? It certainly didn't look like there were – maybe that was what he meant. But I doubted that I was right. The wolves seemed to have a handle on the situation and a knowledge about what was going on that escaped me. That sort of confidence was a resulted from their belief in their fantasy, I supposed, but I still envied them.

Kiba gave Tsume a considering look but didn't say anything. He was so unlike me, I noted absently as I walked behind the pack. If I were him and running this operation, I would have had Tsume telling all by now. I had a thousand questions, and I didn't even have much of a clue what was going on. I imagined that the pack must be burning up with curiosity by now. Hige and Toboe, at least, were staring blankly at Tsume. Obviously, they didn't know anything about this.

Tsume lead us into one of the squat, square black buildings that dominated the city floor. The city was all made up of nondescript squares, I noticed; these short little buildings were perfectly square and so plain that one could easily miss the door. Even the roads ran in a square, uniform pattern that I assumed was the same throughout the city. The only things that stood out, literally, were the seemingly useless spires that pierced the sky.

As we pushed through the short little door, nothing heralded our appearance. No humans rushed at us, no guns rang out. In fact, it was completely dark. But I didn't need light to see that the entire building was empty. There was not much anyone could have fit in there anyway; its appearance from the outside was deceiving. It was incredibly small in here.

"What's in here, Tsume?" Toboe asked, curiosity in his voice.

"Our door," was Tsume's only reply. Ah. So this was only an entrance to wherever we were going. But if so, where could this door possibly lead? Back outside? And what about all of the other buildings? Was there anything in them?

I heard a sudden bang and jerked reflexively, startled. It was just Tsume, though, yanking back a trapdoor with his human hands. The door sprung open and then clattered back to the floor, revealing yet another square. Only, this square was a hole in the ground, and faint light glowed out of the opening. "Down we go," Tsume commanded, and to my surprise, Kiba didn't object. By the way he scented, though, I guessed that he smelled something. And knowing our journey, it was probably a lunar flower.

The scent hit me, too, as the wolves shuffled towards the entrance to who-knew-where. It was faint, but it was definitely unlike anything I had ever smelled before and irresistibly alluring. _No wonder Kiba runs after this stuff all the time, _I thought wonderingly. It was like a drug.

"Is this it?" Toboe's voice again, only this time he sounded thoroughly awed. I caught Hige's expression in the dimness and even he looked surprised. I thought I knew what he was thinking, 'It's this easy? This is Paradise?' Kiba's face was carefully restrained, but it looked like he knew something the others didn't. Like he knew that this hole in the ground couldn't possibly be Paradise. Me? My blood was seething beneath my skin in an unexpected reaction to the flower scent. My heart rate was even speeding up in something I could only call hope. Wait. Hope? I didn't believe in this place. Disgusted at the drug's effect on me, I shook my head slightly and watched as the others transformed back to humanity.

"Not quite," Tsume said gruffly, and my spirits fell. _Thank you, _I thought dryly. I hadn't enjoyed having my emotions run rampant on me. With them subdued, I felt more in control of myself.

Tsume stepped over the lip of the hole and disappeared. I felt surprised for a moment. What about the humans? How did they get down without seriously injuring themselves? The wolves could simply jump down without risk, but if there was no way down for normal people…but this was assuming that there were humans here. I couldn't shake the assumption, though, even if there was no evidence of human life in this old city.

The others followed suit, and I quickly found myself shoving myself through the hole. It wasn't made big enough for someone with four legs, I thought absently. But I slipped through without much trouble. On the way down my hind leg scraped against something cold and distinctly rusty – ah. So there was a ladder.

I landed on my feet, thankfully, and shook my fur as I looked up to the others. They became wolves again at Tsume's cue, and I remembered his strange advice that we remain as wolves. Why was that? Agh. I had so many questions, but I didn't feel like I had the right to ask them. Not to this pack. Even though they had let me tag along with them, I didn't feel accepted. I felt like an interloper, creeping behind their path though they didn't want me. But there was no time to reconsider the intelligence of agreeing to come with the pack already starting off down a short hallway.

I trotted after them to keep up, pricking my ears as faint murmuring started nearby. It wasn't someone from the pack, that much was certain, as all of them looked uneasy at the sound.

"Go stop them." This voice was clear and louder than the ones before, and I found myself tensing up, as if a fight was inevitable. I noticed that the other wolves did the same. Was this voice talking about us? How could they even know that we were here? No one was in sight, though, and I saw for the first time that our hall ended with a wall. There was no door. It wasn't a dead end, though; right before the wall two openings appeared, one on the right side of the hall and one on the left. A girl skidded through the left opening, starting all of us to a halt.

Kiba was the first to react. "What do you want?" He snarled, showing the first bit of emotion I had seen out of him the whole time I had been with this pack. But she ignored him, instead looking straight at Tsume with narrowed eyes.

"You betrayed us, as I recall," she said to Tsume, boring her eyes into his. "What are you doing back here?"

**I feel deeply unsatisfied with this chapter. And you probably do, too. I know, I know. It's been a series of fillers so far. But it will get better! I promise. The plot has yet to reveal itself. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Bit of a wait between chapters, I know, but I sort of forgot that this thing existed after winter break. :P It's back now!**

"Wolves?" The question was timid and hesitant.

"Those are wolves!" The two phrases were repeated in a ripple around the room, some questioning, some suspicious, some awed. The muttering surprised me; I hadn't had time to really look at my surroundings yet and hadn't seen all of the humans flanking the one fierce-looking girl glaring at us. I stared back at them as they watched me, completely taken aback. Was this a trap of some sort? Even if the people didn't look vicious (except for the female), this could be dangerous.

"Yes, they're wolves!" The girl snapped back at the crowd, turning briefly to face them before returning her eyes to us, still glaring. As she flipped her head around, strands from her blonde ponytail came loose, shading her snarling blue eyes. "Use your eyes and shut up," she growled, addressing the humans without looking at them. When no one said anything, her eyes narrowed further. "I'm still waiting for _his _answer," she continued, putting special venom on "his" and not addressing Tsume directly, as if she was too good for that.

Tsume looked equally annoyed; if I had to choose someone to rival Tsume's heat, I think I'd found the person in this girl. "You're in for a wait," he said, fixing her with a glower.

But she wasn't put off by his refusal to cooperate. She strode over to him and thrust a finger in his face. "Quit with your passive aggressive replies! No one here is impressed by your aloofness. Just answer my question; I assume it was simple enough for you. What are you doing here?"

Tsume practically snarled. "Get your finger out of my face." He shifted out of the way, flashing her a look of pure contempt.

I wondered why we didn't just attack these humans. Why were we standing here, watching Tsume carry out a terse conversation with one of them? If they were in the way, we could take care of it. Then again, I had no idea why Tsume had led us down here.

The blonde girl sighed, frustrated, but stepped past Tsume and strutted over to the rest of us. I tensed automatically as she approached, very distrustful of this sharp-tongued human that seemed quick to consort with wolves.

"Who's really in charge here? It can't be him." She jerked a thumb towards Tsume.

"No one's in charge," Kiba said calmly, expressionless, but that he spoke first gave it away. The blonde girl looked relieved to find someone to talk with.

"Then I direct my questioning to you. What are you doing here?"

Kiba didn't speak at first, and I assumed that he, too, would refuse to tell her anything. It seemed like something he would do. But he ended up shrugging and speaking to her. "Ask him." It was clear that he meant Tsume.

She threw her hands up in the air. "Will no one explain themselves?" No one answered her, and I resisted the urge to snicker. "Alright, if you have no purpose here, then get out. We don't need you here." Her expression turned guarded, as if she was hiding something. And judging by the intense smell of lunar flowers floating around here, she probably was.

Kiba started forward, and I mentally flipped through the things Kiba might do next. But he didn't hit her, answer her, or do anything. He simply walked past her with a purposeful stride, to the blonde's obvious surprise. "Hey! And what are _you _doing?" She rounded on him, but Kiba didn't bat an eye or look back at her. He walked straight for the crowd of other humans, who watched him warily as he passed.

One broke off from the others and crept closer to the blonde girl, who seemed to be in control of all of this. "What do we do?" He whispered. "We can't just stop him."

The girl shot him a disgusted look. "I'll handle this." She whirled on Kiba, though she was a few yards away from his retreating back. "You! Stop moving. You have no right to go back there!" Her voice was obviously being carefully controlled, as if she was on the verge of snarling at him. When Kiba still didn't halt, she curled her lip and set her features determinedly. "Especially with one of your pack members being a traitor and all."

If she thought that would stop Kiba from venturing further into her little underground whatever it was, she was sorely disappointed. He didn't even break stride. But I was suddenly very curious; how did she know anything about this pack? But she had said something about Tsume betraying her when we first arrived. Maybe they knew each other.

"Oh, don't you even care who it is!" She snapped after him, looking as if she was very close to throwing a tantrum, foot-stomping and all. But she didn't, not even when Kiba still didn't reply and disappeared around a shadowed corner. "You think he wants us to follow him?" Hige wondered aloud, but no one answered him, either. We were all busy watching the scene unfold before us; or, at least, I was.

The blonde girl hurried over to the crowd of concerned-looking humans, where she began talking to them in hasty, whispered tones. "Should we attack him?" One human asked dubiously, louder than the others. I bristled automatically; if he wanted a fight, I would give him one.

"We can't!" Another human voice, this time female, spoke up. "Wolves and Paradise, you fool! We should be honored to have them here."

"Honored," the blonde girl snorted. "Right." But she shook her head. "No. We can't lay a hand on them, unfortunately." Her tone suggested that she would very much like to do what she was rejecting.

Another male turned to her with a fearful expression. "But what about when he finds them? Won't he…"

Hige turned to face the rest of us. "Come on, guys. Let's go see what they're talking about." He wheeled and trotted after Kiba, so I followed suit. I was getting very curious with all of the commotion the humans were making.

"And now they're all going," the same fearful man groaned as we padded past them after Kiba.

"Let them," the blonde girl hissed. "But, wolves or not, they're not going to touch them. Not after we've worked so hard. And we can't forget Tsume's bad habits, can we? Lee, Rana, keep an eye on him." I could practically feel Tsume's anger at her last couple of words, but he didn't say anything.

Two humans nodded assent and immediately fell into their jobs, keeping their eyes trained on the gray wolf. I thought it was a bit ridiculous – with the entire group of humans hovering behind the pack and the wolves packed closely in the thin hallway, what did they expect Tsume to do?

Thinking of Tsume made me remember how ignorant the rest of us were about this situation. What were we even doing down here? Not even Kiba knew, apparently. It felt…important, though. Or maybe the lunar flower scent was flipping my brain upside down and making me think I felt things that I didn't feel. Either that, or my prolonged exposure to this pack, who was so myth-driven, was rubbing off on me. Whatever the cause, padding down this hall felt strangely normal, even though I knew it wasn't natural to converse with humans and then explore their dwelling.

I wanted to ask Tsume, but even as I thought of doing so I knew that it would never happen. I wasn't shy by nature, but I knew sharply that I didn't really belong in this pack. When it came down to me and him at base level, he was no better than I was. But storming up to this respected pack member and demanding answers was just wrong. He had a right to ignore me as much as I had no right to exact information from him.

It occurred to me that this strong feeling, different from meekness or shyness, was because of my "disability." I didn't know what the other wolves were like, but it didn't seem that they'd ever be paused by such instincts as this. Maybe it was because they were becoming more humanized with access to two legs. I had no connection to people, so it was possible that my basic wolf instincts were much cruder and animalistic. Packs like those that used to roam the lands didn't exist anymore, but when they did the hierarchy was strict. Lower pack members had to be very submissive and absolutely never challenge authority. As a newcomer, I supposed I was the equivalent of a lower ranking pack member, and that that could be the cause for my sudden hesitance.

It didn't matter what made me balk, though. I'd just walk along behind these wolves and wait to see what happened. I didn't even think about how unusual it was for me to take things lying down. How unusual it was for me to operate with company, let alone tag along and consciously acknowledge how low I was in comparison to them. How unusual it was that I wasn't making for the door right now, leaving this pack to their issues. This pack had gotten to me, I realized without wanting to think about it. No matter what I wanted personally, I knew that they would have a hand in what I did. I was drawn by them as much as they were drawn to the legends swirling around their species.

Even with this clarity of knowledge and the facts that I admitted to myself, I still didn't do what I normally did and get the hell out of there. I knew what this pack was doing to me, and I still didn't turn away. That's what started the prick of fear in my heart. I was being weakened here, blinded, and what that meant about me terrified me. And yet, it felt right and altogether inescapable.

Shoving such thoughts aside, deciding quickly that reflexes would be needed more than logic, I refocused my eyes on my immediate surroundings. I noticed that several humans' facial expressions were tightening with each step we took, and the particularly fearful man looked downright nauseous. There was something near that they didn't want us to discover, and I had the feeling that Tsume was deeply wound in all of this. These people knew him, and I was apprehensive about learning how.

With a bit of new urgency in my strides, I pressed on after the pack. We turned abruptly – it seemed that even the turns of this place were squared like the buildings – and came upon another opening in the gray brick walls. This one didn't have a door, just like the entrances to the first two rooms of this underground structure.

Kiba was standing there, utterly still, in the midst of hundreds of shining white flowers that could only be the ones I had always heard about.


End file.
